10 Best Learning Management Systems of 2024
In the present fast world where education and training are regularly stepping up, having the right tools and platforms to manage learning material rightly is very important. Thankfully we have Learning Management Systems, a very strong software which makes educational processes engaging and better with its beneficial features such as personalized content creation and management, creative assessment tools, availability and centralized data. With thousands of LMS available out there, it can be hard to choose the best one.
This blog will help you to choose the best fit for being your learning companion- from Google Classroom to Talent LMS to Moodle, let’s have a look into all popular LMS.
What are Learning Management Systems?
Learning Management Systems popularly known as LMS, are software or applications that offer online learning, training and developing skills. It is designed to document, provide, and track online learning courses. These systems help in gathering, create and manage educational content at one place, communicate and track learner’s performance through these platforms.
It offers several important benefits to enhance the learner’s learning experience in educational organizations or corporate settings, it has become an important tool for developing skills and knowledge.
Also Read: SCORM Authoring Tools for E-learning
Importance of LMS in Education and Business
1. Centralized Content
LMS provides all educational and training material, collaborates and tracks learner’s performance without the need of switching to other platforms at one place. It allows users to deliver, manage, create and track all in one place.
2. Easy Delivery
It allows the user easy delivery of content; it supports many features such as integrating multimedia tools such as videos and images and other features such as adding quizzes and Q&A as assessment tools. It is easy to use as it is easy to direct and allows easy upload and sharing of training content.
3. Flexibility
It is one of the most important features of LMS as it provides flexibility and freedom to learners to learn at their own speed and time unlike traditional classroom methods it does not pressurize learners which enables learners to learn pressure and gain positive results. It provides personalized content and welcomes everyone’s unique learning time, speed and environment.
4. Availability
It is also a major important benefit of LMS that it is available and accessible anytime 24/7 even if they have different time zones it is available when the user is ready unlike traditional system where user had to adjust themselves to learn and it is available at any device such as phones, laptops any with which user is comfortable.
5. Increase Engagement
LMS enhances user engagement by providing tools such as multimedia integration which will motivate and encourage users to learn and compete in a healthy way. Features like gamification, groups and other such tools will help and encourage the user to be interactive.
Popular Learning Management Tools
1. Moodle LMS
Price- Free of cost
Moodle was developed and maintained by Moodle Pvt. Ltd. Created and founded by Martin Dougiamas 20 years ago. It is a free and open-source learning management system used to manage, provide training and e-learning and integrates with other platforms very easily. It is customizable, has a good community, easy to use the con of Moodle is it can be complex to set up.
Its Outstanding features.
1. Easy-to-use – its interface is easy to use on both desktop and phones.
2. Dashboard- see deadlines and timelines and calendar events at a glance on the dashboard.
3. File Management – Drag and drop files or upload from cloud storage services including MS OneDrive, Dropbox and Google Drive easily.
4. Easy Tracking– progress and performance of individuals or resources and at a course level can be easily tracked with many options.
2. Google Classroom LMS
Price: free for teachers
Google Classroom is a free web-based learning platform developed by Google Inc. Pros, where educators can take a class online, create schedules, and share assignments with students in a virtual way. It aims to provide knowledge in a paperless and easy way. It can collaborate easily with Google services such as Google Drive, your personal Gmail, Google Sheets, Google Calendar, etc. It is very organized and has good communication tools. The issue is a security concern.
Its Outstanding Features
1. Customization- educators can customize the display picture of the class to increase the student’s interest, can hold and drag important and urgent topics to the top, convey lectures in all the available ways like google drive files, pdf, links, YouTube videos, etc.
2. Engaging Content – it also allows students to take feedback and questions regarding the lessons by which educators can address the student’s issues. It also allows the lecture of public comments so the educator can answer in the public comments so all the students can read and learn.
3. Private Feedback– if students hesitate putting out their queries in the public comment they can privately give feedback or ask questions which resolve the problem between learners and educators without involving themselves in other discussions or wasting time.
4. Integration of Google Calendar– it is a very effective tool which helps educators to schedule meetings with the students and their parents, they have the option to select date, day, time and plan of the meeting beforehand which helps in the smooth organization of the meeting.
3. Blackboard LMS
Price– $9500/yr.
Blackboard was founded by Matthew Pittinsky and Michael Chasen in 1997. It is a web-based online Learning Management System. It allows learners to have information at one place, allows fast communication with students and provides grades in electronic format. It has amazing features, good analytics but it is expensive and complex at the same time.
Its Outstanding Features
1. Access to online courses – it provides an easy access to both students and instructor equal access to online courses
2.Activity Stream – users can see a list of important course activities including new content, announcements and grades. This feature prioritizes items to help users focus on tasks themselves.
3. Course Content– tests and assignments are provided in course content. Students can view assignment details and submit within the app and instructors can view assessment details and edit settings and preview it.
4.Push Notifications– it provides time-to-time reminders with pop-up depending on your role as student or instructor.
4. Canvas LMS
Price– 100% free for students
Canvas was founded by Brian Whitmer and Devlin Daley in 2008. is a web-based Learning Management System. It is used to access and manage online courses and helps in skill development. It helps educators to create and present online learning and assess student learning and students to engage in different online learning. It has issues of limited customization.
Its Outstanding Features
1. e-portfolios– students and teachers can showcase their work by creating their own electronic portfolios.
2. Feedback – instructors can provide feedback to learners on assessments using SpeedGrader.
3.Canvas App Center– this allows instructors and admins to enable a variety of external apps and services.
4. Canvas Studio – it enhances student engagement with collaborating interactive video management platforms.
5. Docebo LMS
Price – $25,000/yr.
Docebo was founded by Claudio Erba (2005). It is a cloud-based platform that lets you deliver personalized online learning experiences to many audiences at any time on any device. It is AI powered which helps this in coping up with the future trends and it is updated as well but it is costly and can be complex to learn.
Its Outstanding Features
1. Social Learning– due to this e-learning social interaction is near to zero so this LMS feature provides an environment where professionals in the same organization can interact and communicate, share practices so that they can learn and grow together.
2. Video Conferencing – this LMS collaborates with video conferencing tools such as GoToWebinar, Teleskill or SkyMeeting which helps easy setup of virtual classrooms through any video calling apps.
3. Gamification- it has integrated gaming components such as leaderboard, badges, contests and rewards to motivate the learners.
4. Artificial Intelligence – integrating AI features helps learners become more independent, get more personalized.
6. Chamilo LMS
Price– free of cost
Camilo was founded by Yannick Warnie and the Chamilo association. It is an open-source Learning Management System, aimed at improving access to education and knowledge worldwide. It is backed by the Chamilo Association. It is easy to use but at the same time expensive which is not affordable to every individual.
Its Outstanding Features
1. Course Management – it includes course catalog, user creation, role and skill management and certificate creation .
2. Worldwide Adoption– it is backed up by a series of small to medium companies and universities which are required to register as members of the association and to contribute, which shows the benefit of worldwide education.
3. Security– it provides a page to security issues and servers as a reference any time a new issue is detected.
4. Insert tests inside videos– this allows users to combine exercises with videos.
7. Talent LMS
Price– free for up to 5 users and up to 10 courses, core plan starting at $69.00 and Grow plan starting at $ 109.00.
Talent LMS was founded by Epigenesis LLC in 2012. It is a cloud-based learning management system built for training success. It makes e-learning adoption easier and provides a simple and enjoyable experience. It has good content management and easy administration but it might lack some new updated features which means it will take time to cope up with the new-gen technology.
Its Outstanding Features
1. Content Management – it provides content creation tools, allows importing content, drag-and-drop content management and unlimited file storage.
2. Easy Administration – provides unlimited admins, single sign-on, unlimited custom user types and roles
3. Customization– allows custom branding, themes, homepage, certifications, etc.
4. Assignments– provides test builders, survey builders, question banks and import questions in GIFT/AIKEN format.
8. iSpring Learn LMS
Price– $5.27/month for 100 users and $3.72/month for 500 users
iSpring Learn was founded by Yury Uskov. It is a cloud-based Learning Management System for online corporate training that allows trainers to launch. It helps to create e-learning content quickly. It lets users create, manage and distribute e-learning content. It has limited customization and may lack some features set as well.
Its Outstanding Features
1. Unlimited Storage– it does not provide any limitations on users who can store as many files as they wish to.
2. Start with the content already present-
users can upload user’s ppts, video tutorials, audio tracks etc.
3. Exercises– users can add self-test questions in the article which can be followed by detailed feedback.
4. Detailed viewing stats– users can easily track the number of people that have read the article and how they have progressed.
9. Open edX LMS
Price– $45.00
Open edX was founded by the administrations of MIT and Harvard. It is an open-source learning management system that empowers organizations to create and deliver online courses. It is suitable for large-scale industries and is best for delivering Massive Open Online Courses and provides many ready to consume courses, providing flexible and tailored learning courses but it needs significant complex setup and server resources.
Its Outstanding Features
1. Easy-to-use – users can create courses by themselves and they do not need long training sessions.
2. Multi-user– many users can work simultaneously on the same course.
3. Reusable– Course sections and sub sections can be easily duplicated for reusable.
4. Content Libraries– platform supports the creation of content libraries.
10. Absorb LMS
Price– $16 per active user and $800 per month
Absorb LMS was founded by Mike Eggermont and Mike Owens in 2002. It is a cloud-based learning management system that helps organize and improve business and enhance learning. It has the latest technologies such as AI, personalization and delivers amazing learning experiences but it is less flexible and has some advanced features which might need expert training and complex setup.
Its Outstanding Features
1. Reporting & Analytics– with the help of a dashboard it reports and analyzes learners’ performance progress which will empower the learners.
2. Observational Checklist– organizations with the help of this checklist can verify the needed skills to get the job done and track it automatically.
3. Artificial Intelligence – AI is a major future technology which is rising today. It has integrated AI to simplify admin tasks and give learners an opportunity to gain new skills and knowledge.
4. Content Libraries– it has pre-built courses and also has the ability to create new courses.
Challenges or Issues faced by LMS
1. Security & Privacy
One of the major challenges of LMS is to securing user’s privacy as users trust these LMS with sensitive private information such as personal details, financial details, academic details and other important documents which need high-end security if anything and if security is overlooked customer trust can also go so, every LMS should have set of standardized privacy and security regulations.
2. Technical Difficulties
LMS has many technical issues such as viruses, poor internet connectivity, support of different browsers, etc. which can disturb learner’s learning and divert them from their path.
LMS can resolve these issues with strong IT teams and regulations to handle such issues so that learners can enjoy their learning process without technical difficulties in between.
3. Expert Training
Not everyone is used to these online learning and not everyone is easily adaptable as well. Good expert training is required for using these LMS to both instructors and learners. Providing the right training is necessary for the success of these LMS.
Continuous development and training are needed as it keeps getting updated and many users may even take time as they have been part of a long-time traditional classroom method.
4. Time and Resource Management
Management of time and resources is very necessary to keep these LMS up and running. Development of these LMS can take a huge amount of time as well as resources.
Initial development such as content creation, customization, training can take a lot of time as well as not every user or organization can afford a huge number of resources to build it.
5. High Starting Pricing
Initial cost or pricing can be very high as it is expensive to create and buy software, customize it and also training cost which is not affordable.
Most of the LMS take joining amount in which mostly the base price is high and they add on extra pricing for buying other tools which every user cannot afford and LMS can resolve this issue by compensating or by bringing guidelines to regulate pricing.
Upcoming Future Trends
1. Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence popularly known as AI. It is intelligent exhibited by machines, particularly by computer systems, which is one of the most popular emerging forms of technology and especially in education as it can offer personalized learning and can help educators in developing innovative learning plans.
It is designed in a way it can point out the strengths and weaknesses and can even provide methods to improve accordingly.
2. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)
AR and VR are two more emerging trends in the field of digital learning with AI. It helps in making learning more effective and interactive. This will provide educators with a more realistic and tangible experience which can increase the depth of their knowledge and lead to remembering things better.
3. Gamification
Gamification is another trend which is transforming the eLearning experience. Indulging gaming elements in learning can enhance motivation and engagement in the learners. It includes scoreboards, badges, and rewards that will enhance learners’ interest in learning.
Closing Thoughts
In a nutshell, this blog is a guide to LMS- a software which helps you enhance your learning and training experience with benefits of centralized content With the help of centralized content, easy content delivery, flexibility, availability and increased engagement. It introduced you to several popular LMS such as Moodle, Google Classroom, Blackboard, Canvas, Docebo, Chamilo, Talent, ISpring Learn, Open edX and absorb and presented challenges faced such as technical issues, high cost, security concerns and more with upcoming trends such as AI, AR, VR and gamification.
With the use of LMS organizations and users can develop and always be steps ahead of its competitors. So, it is necessary to adopt the advancement of technology by embracing LMS as their new expert at online learning.
FAQs
Q1. What are the benefits of Learning Management Systems?
Ans. Benefits of LMS are centralized data, easy assessment, availability, keep getting updated and is customizable.
Q2. What are the disadvantages of Learning Management Systems?
Ans. Disadvantages of LMS might have initial cost, increase technological dependency, social isolation and it is time consuming.
Q3. What are the key Features to choose the right Learning Management Systems?
Ans. The key things to remember while choosing the right LMS are to identify your needs, compare features of different LMS, check whether it has a user-friendly interface, consider your budget and check pricing of all LMS and check whether the LMS has good security regulations or not.
Q4. How can an individual or organization identify their needs to choose the best Learning Management System?
Ans. An individual or organization can identify their needs to choose the best management system by identifying their goal, then identifying the audience, setting up their needs, the desired features and at last search potential service providers.
Q5. What are the different types of Learning Management Systems?
Ans. SaaS LMS (cloud-based), Open-Source LMS, Installed LMS and Custom-built LMS are different types of LMS.